


The Best of Times are Often Remembered

by grimdigee



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Panic, I GUESS IT'S FLUFF, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm not joking it's literally 3:45 AM, Injury, Memory Loss, Minor Injuries, Multi, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: s03e18-21 Sozin's Comet, Temporary Amnesia, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, except it's zukka, the ships are not REALLY the focus though please keep that in mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24803290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimdigee/pseuds/grimdigee
Summary: “Zuko, do you know who I am?” He shook his head quickly at the question, she paused, “Do you know who... You are?” He thought about it, but just as before, nothing, he shook his head.She sighed, “You really did have a bad fall...”Or, Zuko has a bad fall and forgets everything.And him and Sokka kiss.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (implied), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 9
Kudos: 330





	The Best of Times are Often Remembered

**Author's Note:**

> My second (posted) fic! I wanted to write a short story but somehow ended up writing a longer story than I've done before? Dunno how I managed that, also yes I know this isn't a lot of words, I just don't write that much :'D

Sokka opened his eyes, it was late at night, he wasn't quite sure what had woken him, he stared up at the top of their tent, only a little light shining through onto his face, he vaguely remembers a loud noise, he groaned, sitting up in his sleeping bag.

Turning to look at the opening, the clearing they set up camp in had their fire at the center, but it had long since gone out, he then looked to his friends, Toph, Aang, Katara, Zu- wait, no, Zuko's sleeping bag was there, but he wasn't in it, Sokka felt himself begin to panic slightly, he wiggled out of his sleeping bag, kicking it off his feet.

He rushed to Katara's side, hesitating, should he wake her up? Sokka bit his lip, for all he knew Zuko was just taking a walk, but he was also the Fire Lord, what if someone took him? But he could handle himself just fine, why wouldn't someone take Aang too if they wanted him? All these questions circled around in Sokka's head.

He shuddered, deciding to leave Katara be, instead choosing to leave the tent to go outside, Sokka looked around at the edges of the clearing, Appa was laying on the other side of the camp, fast asleep, he squinted, it was hard to see since the fire was out, but from what he could tell nothing had changed, he looked down, there were light footprints in the dirt, some were noticeably older, he followed the more recent ones.

They led him to the edge of the forest, he gazed up at the dark abyss, determination quickly overriding fear, his boyfriend was in there, he had to find him, Sokka inhaled, taking a step into the forest.

He walked for awhile, continuing to follow the makeshift path, it was obvious someone had gone this way, it was obvious ZUKO had gone this way.

The air was slightly chilled, due to the coming winter, the fear started to rise in Sokka again, but this time for different reasons, he had finally reached the edge of the path, but the problem was, it was a drop off, Sokka almost didn't see it, but he was so focused on the footprints that he was able to spot the decline before he fell down.

There was one glaring issue though, the footprints stopped there, well, not where Sokka stood, but rather, they seemed to disappear at the edge of the hill, no more footprints, it was too dark to see the bottom of the hill, but just by the evidence, it was clear to Sokka that Zuko hadn't seen the drop like he did.

Fueled by the realization, Sokka quickly, but not too much to tumble down, started to descend the hill, it was slower than he would have liked, but unless he wanted to end up knocked out at the bottom of this hill, he had to be careful.

It didn't help that the leaves had started to fall and dry, it was the worst time for this to happen too, not far enough into fall for all the leaves to be down so that the moon's light shined through, but not early enough into fall that no leaves coated the forest floor.

Finally, Sokka reached the bottom, and it didn't take much to see that Zuko hadn't gotten back up after his misstep, there he was, laying on the ground, even in the dark Sokka could make out bruises forming and scratches attempting to scab.

Sokka grabbed Zuko, turning him to see his face, there were a few wounds marring his non-burnt cheek, a busted lip, a cut along his forehead that was slowly coming to a halt in it's bleeding, besides that he seemed to be mostly unharmed.

Lifting up the unconscious Fire Lord, Sokka started to ascend the hill, he grumbled, it was easier going up than down but that didn't mean it wasn't hard at all, not to mention he was carrying a 17 year old boy who was only shorter than him by an inch now.

Sokka was having trouble getting traction on the leaves, stupid leaves, why were they causing so much trouble for him? It was like the world was just against him tonight.

Finally, he made it back to the top, from there it was a mostly short walk to camp, it dawned on Sokka that the noise that woke him up must have been Zuko falling.

Since he had gone through once it wasn't too difficult to make it back as fast as possible, Sokka eyed Appa again, still asleep next to the silent ashes of their fire, he took his boyfriend into the tent, laying him down softly on his sleeping bag.

He considered leaving everyone to rest, but he knew it would be a better idea to wake at least Katara, so that she could check on Zuko and make sure he's okay.

So he did, Sokka knelt down beside his sister and shook her, “Katara? Wake up, I need help.” He said, she grumbled, turning over in her bag to look at him wearily, “Ugh.. Sokka? Wha.. What time is it?” She asked, rubbing her eyes.

“It's late, I didn't want to wake you up but I need help, Zuko went on a walk or something and fell down a hill, he's unconscious, I just.. Wanted you to make sure he's okay..” Sokka confessed, his sister nodded, more awake now that she knew why he had risen her in the first place.

She got out of her sleeping bag, crawling to sit beside Zuko, she inspected him, “It's hard to see in the dark, I think we should wake the others.” Katara said.

She turned, “Guys, wake up.” Aang and Toph groaned, Aang yawned, stretching his arms up and over his head, Toph huffed, flipping over to face Katara.

“Why did you wake us? I don't need to see to tell it's still late.” Toph said, annoyance ringing in her voice, Katara ignored it, instead turning to look at Aang.

“Aang, can you make some light for me? Zuko is hurt and I need to see to heal him.” Aang shot his eyes to Zuko, seeing the cut on his head, he immediately lit a fire in his palm, scooting over to sit next to Katara, she smiled at him, bending the water out of her canteen.

She started working, Toph crossed her arms, “So like, are you going to explain what happened or am I just gonna sit here?” Sokka paced in front of her, obviously nervous.

“I heard something loud earlier, I was still only half awake but I saw that Zuko wasn't here, so I went looking for him and found him knocked out at the bottom of a hill...” He said, continuing to walk in circles, Toph pursed her lips.

“Was there anyone else around?” Sokka shook his head, “No, and based on his footprints it didn't look like he was running or anything, it just looked like he was walking and then... Not...” He shuddered, Toph dropped the subject.

“Well, I'm going back to bed, since there isn't anything I can do to help, and based on his heart beat I doubt he's in any danger.” She rolled back over, sighing.

Katara looked at Sokka, “You know what, I think you should go to bed too, you're obviously going to go insane if you stay up, you might as well just sleep and we can gather our thoughts in the morning.” She says, “But-” “No, go to bed, Toph is right, he's not in any immediate danger, once I get these cuts healed up he'll just be sore after that.” Sokka sighed, relenting and slipping back into his sleeping bag.

It wasn't easy, especially with Aang keeping the fire going behind him and hearing water sloshing, knowing that his boyfriend is hurt and he can't do anything about it, but despite all that, Sokka eventually found sleep.

…

It was a dreamless night, Sokka rose in the late morning to Katara shaking him, “Sokka, wake up!” huffing a sigh, he sat up, it felt like he didn't sleep, despite being asleep most of the night.

“What's wrong?.. Is Zuko okay?!” Sokka started, memories of the night before slapping him in the face, before he could panic any further though, Katara smiled at him.

“Zuko is fine, Sokka, he's still asleep but all his wounds have been healed and as I said before, once he wakes he'll just be sore from the fall.” Sokka relaxed a little, peering over her shoulder to confirm that Zuko was, indeed, still asleep.

He breathed a sigh of relief, putting a hand to his chest, “My poor Zuko, I can't imagine how scared he was when he fell, injured and cold at the bottom of a hill-” Katara slapped him in the arm, “Oh, shut up, you know Zuko wouldn't have been scared, the only thing that will come of this is hurt pride, considering Toph will never let him live this down.”

They laughed, Katara tugged on his sleeve, “Anyways, Aang and I made breakfast, come out and eat with us.” She smiled at him knowingly, “We made yours with fish.” Sokka felt himself practically drool at the thought, he jumped up, about to rush out the tent, but he stopped at the exit.

He turned around and knelt next to Zuko, placing a kiss on his forehead, Sokka smiled, he looked so peaceful when he was asleep, he hated to let him sleep through breakfast but knew he needed his rest.

Sokka let him sleep.

…

He opened his eyes, squinting, something was... Off... Wrong, where was he? There was a... Cloth? Above him, he turned his head, clothes littered the floor, no wait, those were bags? He looked down, he was in one of these 'Bags' but why? Wait no, these are meant for sleeping in, was he asleep? He had to have been.

He sat up, pushing the thick fabric off of himself, his mind felt fuzzy, joints and muscles sore and aching, why though? His mind vaguely supplied him with nothing more than questions.

He stumbled out of the... Tent? Yeah, that's what that was, he held a hand up, covering his eyes from the bright light outside, a voice greeted him, he jumped, startled.

“Hey, Zuko! You're awake!” He glanced to the source of the voice, a boy with a blue marking on his head.

He stared at the boy, then looked at the other people present, a girl wearing a lot of blue with pretty, brown hair, and another girl, whose eyes seemed far off, distant and blank.

At the center of their little group there was a firepit, 'Fire... I know fire, that's something that I would recognize any day.' He thought, blinking, the boy with markings was talking again, shaking him from his thoughts.

“Zuko? Are you okay?” He opened his mouth, about to respond, but then he stopped, “Z.. Zuko?” He asked, simply, he didn't know that word, was it a word? Or a name? Was that HIS name? He couldn't remember, it felt like the fuzz in his mind got stronger the more he tried to think about it.

The boy looked concerned, “Yyyyeah... Zuko, how hard did you hit your head last night?” The girl in blue stood up, walking over to him, she got up in his space and he stepped back, awkwardly biting his lip.

“Zuko, do you know who I am?” He shook his head quickly at the question, she paused, “Do you know who... You are?” He thought about it, but just as before, nothing, he shook his head.

She sighed, “You really did have a bad fall...” The girl took his hand, leading him over to the fire, when the boy and other girl were about to speak she shushed them.

Once she had him in front of a log that was on it's side, seemingly meant to be used as a chair, she pushed him gently onto it, he sat down willingly, staring into the fire, the one thing right now he can say with full confidence he understands.

The girl in blue sat down next to him, staring, he felt himself grow nervous, his hands very lightly trembling, she took them into her own and firmly squeezed them, comforting.

“Zuko, your name is Zuko, my name is Katara, that's Aang, and that's Toph. We're your friends.” She gestured to each person in the group, he... 'Zuko' nodded slowly, processing the information.

“I'm.. Zuko, you're Katara, that's Aang, and that's Toph.” He pointed to each of them, turning his eyes back to the fire to think for a moment.

“Yeah, that's right, and that's Appa over there, the lemur sleeping on him is Momo.” Zuko looked at 'Appa', he shuddered, the creature was monstrous, it's size dwarfed 'Momo' on it even more so than a human would.

Katara tapped him on the shoulder, Zuko looked at her, “There's one more person in our group, you and him are very close, his name is Sokka, he's out fishing right now, but he should be back any minute, I just wanted you to know, he looks a bit like me, so you'll know him when you see him.” She said, Zuko nodded again, “Well... That name sounded kind of familiar...” He said softly.

Katara smiled, “Well, hopefully you start to regain your memories fast then, we don't want to return you to your people while you're like... Ahem, this.” She pointed to him, Zuko felt confused but he didn't ask about it, instead he looked at the fire, Aang and Toph started talking about something but he wasn't paying attention, flames licked at the air and ashes flew out into the wind, it was pretty.

Zuko liked fire.

…

Sokka carried the fish back to camp, it was a good day for fishing apparently, he got quite a few, they would be eating good tonight.. Minus Aang, because for some reason he chose to eat only veggies, and rice, and yeah, he ate eggs and stuff but that wasn't the point, he didn't eat meat, which to Sokka, was basically a sin, but no matter, he had much more important things on his mind.

In this case, Zuko, Sokka felt himself speed up at the thought of his boyfriend, he hoped he was awake now, since he had slept through the night and into the morning as well, Sokka wanted to give him a hug, he felt deprived of it already and it had only been a day.

Finally, he got back to camp, and his eyes immediately went to Zuko, who was staring into the fire with clear interest, as much as he wanted to, Sokka didn't drop the fish on the spot, choosing instead to go to the others.

“Zuko, thank spirits you're awake, I was so worried about you!!” He ran towards them, setting his bucket of fish on the ground next to the fire, he was about to approach Zuko, to hug him of course, and maybe kiss him... But something was clearly wrong, Sokka knew his boyfriend, and his boyfriend would be excited to see him, even if he tried to hide it, but no, instead, Zuko looked almost scared of him.

Sokka looked to Katara, she stood up, grabbing his arm and pulling him away, “What's wrong with Zuko? Why does he look... Scared?” He asked, she sighed, “Sokka... When Zuko fell he hit his head pretty hard... Um... He lost his memories.” Sokka stared at her, almost wanting to laugh because, man, what a funny joke, right? But she wasn't laughing, she was dead serious.

Sokka clenched his teeth, “Nothing? He remembers nothing?...” Katara nodded, “The only things he remembers are how to talk, write, and uh, fire, well, he knows other things too like what lemurs are and what camping is, but he had to think about those for a moment before it came back to him.” Sokka felt his lip wobble, few times had he cried but right now he felt close to sobbing.

“Will he ever...” He didn't finish his sentence, but the question was still clear, Katara smiled at him, “I believe so, yes, he recognized your name and like I said, he forgot a lot of stuff but it came back to him after a moment, I'd give him a little time but I think sooner or later, he'll be back to his normal self.” Sokka had never felt more relieved than he did right now.

“Thank Tui...” He mumbled, she nodded, “But, we do have to continue trying to jog his memory, while you were away we were retelling stories to him, we've been mostly avoiding the ones about him trying to capture Aang, for obvious reasons.” Sokka smiled, “Yeah, well, we don't want him to think he's a horrible person.” She laughed, “No we don't.” They turned, walking back to the fire, Katara sat next to Aang, and Sokka next to Zuko.

Zuko smiled nervously at him, “You're Sokka.” Sokka grinned, “That's me, the meat and sarcasm guy.” Zuko's smile went from nervous to genuine, “I remember that.” He stared at Sokka, eyes raking over his body, if it weren't for the fact that all his memories were gone, Sokka almost thought he was checking him out, right as he thought that though, Zuko went red and looked away, he smirked, maybe he wasn't really far off about that.

…

Zuko listened as the group, his friends, talked, he kept looking at Sokka, the only one who he generally remembers, but as soon as he saw the boy, he noticed how pretty he was, from his light chocolate skin to his bright blue eyes, even his hair, everything about him was pretty and it made Zuko flush when he thought about it.

Getting flustered didn't keep him from not looking at Sokka though, he was very intent on taking in every detail, while still focusing on the stories.

Some of the tales he felt like he remembered, like the Western Air Temple and Ember Island, and the terrible play they saw while they were there, weirdly though everyone seemed intent on leaving out details for stuff, it gave everything big holes in the story and it was pretty confusing.

Zuko felt his mind wandering often, soon the whole day had gone by and, despite their best efforts, his friends hadn't gotten him back yet, he honestly felt really guilty about it, they were trying so hard and even then, he was too much of a failure to even be HIMSELF.

'Suffering will be your teacher.' His thoughts screamed, Zuko pushed them down, he didn't know why he kept hearing that repeating, but for some reason he did, a man's voice, older, scary, Zuko didn't like it, of all the things that could come back to him, why something that was clearly a bad memory?

He didn't comment on it, didn't want to alarm the others, instead he listened to Sokka ramble on and watch Katara cook their dinner, Toph and Aang were on the other side of camp training, it was clear Katara didn't like them training during a camping trip but they were bored and Aang wanted to practice.

Zuko turned away from them to look at Sokka again, he was waving his arms around wildly and ranting about meat, Zuko smiled, the boy practically glowed in the evening sky, the last glimmers of sunlight reflecting on his skin beautifully, he wanted to kiss him... 'Where did that come from?' Zuko's face heated up, he looked down and let his bangs fall into his face, Sokka stopped talking, looking down at him.

“Are you okay, Zuko?” He asked, Zuko nodded but didn't verbally respond, he felt Sokka lean in and heard him mumble, “Use your words, Zuko.” He could HEAR Sokka smirking, Zuko wanted to wipe the smug look from his face, so he did, he leaned in and kissed him, refusing to let Sokka win.

Sokka laced his fingers into Zuko's hair, kissing him back, suddenly though, the kiss ended almost as soon as it began, Katara pulling them apart roughly, well, Sokka off of Zuko roughly and Zuko away from Sokka gently.

She grit her teeth, “Sokka.” She said, threateningly, the boy in question gulped, “Sorry Katara.” “You shouldn't be harassing Zuko while he's like this! You know better!!” She yelled at him, Zuko shook his head, “No Katara... I kissed him, I'm sorry.” She groaned, “Spirits, you two are going to be the end of me...”

She whipped around and continued stirring dinner, although this time she kept a watchful eye on them, Sokka snorted, “Sorry Zuko, uh... Did you wanna hear the rest of that story?” Zuko huffed out a laugh, “Always.”

…

Zuko had a problem, he had thought Sokka was pretty before, and he even leaned in to kiss him, but now his actions were sinking in, they had settled in for bed, minus Katara and Aang, apparently Katara had gotten jealous and dragged him off to go training, the poor boy.

Zuko looked over at Sokka, who had already fallen asleep, he grimaced, 'What are we? Close friends? Are we partners? Are we... A couple?' He heard shifting behind him, suddenly someone was dragging him out of his sleeping bag and outside, it was so quick he barely registered it was Toph before she was shoving him onto one of their log benches and sitting next to him.

She sat there silently for a moment, before speaking, “You want to know who Sokka is to you, don't you? I heard Katara yelling at him earlier about it.” He gulped, “Yeah... I do... It's just so, I don't know, confusing? Because Katara just said we were 'Close' but then we kissed and... It just felt so natural..” She hummed in agreement, “Well, not to spoil it, but you two are together, have been for awhile.” Zuko thought about it for a moment, “Then why did no one say anything?” Toph shrugged, “I guess they just didn't want you to define yourself by your relationships with other people.”

Zuko nodded, “I guess that makes sense.” They sat in silence for a little bit, until Toph hugged him, Zuko blinked, before smiling and hugging her back, “You're not a bad person, Zuko, I want you to remember that.” He smiled at her, but her next words erased that quickly, “But I want you to know more about your past, about you before you were our friend.” “Wh.. Why?” Zuko asked, fearful.

Toph sighed, “Well, the others are trying to shelter you... And while I can understand, especially from Sokka's point of view, but I personally feel that you should know, because your past made you who you are today and guided you into a better life... Without that you aren't you.” Toph tightened her grip on him.

Zuko didn't respond but he didn't release her either, giving her the room to speak, “When you first met Aang you were already looking for him, you wanted to take him to your father, you wanted to 'regain your honor'.” She said.

'Suffering will be your teacher.' He heard it, ringing loud in his ears, although this time it was joined by an image, a man standing over him, frightening, fire enveloping his hand and getting ever closer to his face, 'No... Please.. I am your loyal son-' He felt flames take hold of him, Zuko shuddered, trying as hard as he could to avoid a panic attack but it all felt so real... It was too much.

Toph sat back, concerned, “Are you okay?” Zuko gulped, “I... I don't know...” he said, shakily, it was all he could manage before a wave of memories crashed into him, his father, the war, his sister, war, the Avatar, war, warwarwar-

“Zuko!!!”

Zuko heard Sokka, calling out, he heard Aang, Katara, Toph, they were all there, for him, he felt tears welling up in his eyes and before he could stop them, they were already pouring down his face.

“Spirits... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...” He managed to choke out, Sokka pulled him into a tight hug, soon the whole gang was piled up on top of him and he sobbed openly, curling up at the center of their cuddle pile.

They all comforted him and in that moment he knew he was safe.

No, he always had been.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really sorry if the ending felt rushed, I didn't really have any other ideas, I still hope it was good though! I'm quite proud of it.


End file.
